RAWALPINDI, Pakistan — RAWALPINDI, Pakistan (AP) — South Africa thrashed Pakistan by eight wickets Thursday to degree the two-test cricket collection, with off-spinner Simon Harmer taking part in a vital function with a six-wicket haul.

Pakistan opened the collection with a 93-run victory inside 4 days at Lahore final week, however Harmer flipped the script on one other spinning wicket at Rawalpindi. He snared 6-50 to dismiss Pakistan for 138 on Day 4.

That set South Africa a victory goal of 68 runs, and the World Take a look at Championship winners eased to 73-2 in 12.3 overs.

Harmer and left-arm spinner Keshav Maharaj, who missed the primary check attributable to harm, scripted South Africa’s victory with 17 wickets between them within the second check.

“After the primary check we had been put underneath stress however the guys have put their palms up and excelled,” South Africa captain Aiden Markram stated. “Nice house to be in as a staff…the unit out right here is without doubt one of the greatest. In South Africa you’d assume simply seamers, however we’re excellent with the spinners as effectively.”

Markram, who stood within the collection as skipper instead of injured Temba Bavuma, made a brisk 42 off 45 balls with eight fours to energy the chase earlier than he was trapped lbw by Noman Ali when his staff wanted solely 4 runs for victory.

Tristan Stubbs, one of many 4 half-century makers in South Africa’s first innings of 404, was out for a duck when he edged Noman to slide, earlier than Ryan Rickelton (25 not out) smashed Sajid Khan for six to safe the win simply earlier than the scheduled lunch interval.

“It’s a must to give credit score to the opposition, they’ve stored combating,” Pakistan captain Shan Masood stated. “Sadly, we didn’t end effectively within the first innings and the distinction seeped into the third and fourth innings. We should look again at these probabilities that we missed out on. We’re measuring towards a staff that has gained this WTC, so we are able to’t give them probabilities.”

Harmer turned solely the third South African bowler to achieve the 1,000-wicket milestone in first-class cricket when he had Noman caught behind, and Pakistan’s second innings collapsed in simply over an hour.

The house staff’s hopes hinged on in a single day batters Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan to elevate them from 94-4, however each fell to Harmer inside off-spinner’s first three overs of the morning.

Babar, 49 in a single day, accomplished his first half-century of the collection with a single and it was loudly applauded by his followers on the Pindi Cricket Stadium. Nevertheless, Harmer pinned Pakistan’s premier batter lbw with a supply that spun again and hit Babar low on the pads.

Babar, who hasn’t scored a check century since December 2022, went for a overview however the tv replays indicated the ball didn’t make any contact with the bat earlier than hitting the pads flush in entrance of the wickets.

Harmer then obtained an inside edge off Rizwan’s bat and the ball popped to Tony de Zorzi near the wicket as Pakistan misplaced two key wickets inside the primary 20 minutes and led by simply 34 runs.

Salman Ali Agha made rearguard 28 off 42 balls however chopped Maharaj again onto his stumps earlier than the left-armer had Khan stumped to complete off Pakistan’s resistance.

Pakistan has gained 4 of its final six dwelling check matches because it reverted to spin pitches final yr after dropping the primary check to England in Multan. However its decrease order batters have struggled to deal with high quality spinners, which noticed them dropping to the West Indies after which South Africa on Thursday.

“4 out of six shouldn’t be dangerous,” Masood stated. “There’s a lot to work on. The decrease batting, ending innings off, third innings batting. As a facet, you might be by no means good.”

The 2 groups will now compete in a three-match T20 collection, beginning in Rawalpindi subsequent Tuesday. That can be adopted by a three-match ODI collection in Faisalabad from Nov. 4-8.

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AP cricket: https://apnews.com/hub/cricket